Commodore Announces New Commodore64, VIC Computers

Commodore, the legendary brand that helped drive home computing, has opened a Web store where consumers can buy a modernized Commodore 64 and two new versions of the VIC, now redesigned as a "keyboard computer".

Commodore, the legendary brand that helped drive home computing with an emphasis on entertainment, has opened a Web store where consumers can buy a modernized Commodore 64 and two new versions of the VIC, now redesigned as a "keyboard computer".

The new Commodore 64 costs anywhere from $250 for a "barebones" configuration for modders, to an $895 "ultimate" configuration with a terabyte hard drive, Blu-ray., and wireless. The VIC-Pro costs $495 to $1,195, while the VIC-SLIM costs $295 to $495.

Commodore also posted some basic specs of three new Amiga models: the 1000, 2000, and 3000.

Strangely, the new offerings bear almost no similarity to what Commodore showed off behind closed doors at this year's CES. Then, the company emphasized smartphone apps and gaming, and the E715 all-in-one PC. Instead, the company's Web site now focuses almost exclusively on updating the company's iconic machines of yesteryear with modern components.

Although Commodore celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2007, the company has languished in obscurity for many of those years, a faint shell of the company that helped launched computing and computer games.

"I'm sure you'll appreciate the Commodore thing has been in a state of flux over the last 20 years," Peter Bromage, the vice president of sales and marketing for Commodore said in January. "But now the ownership is resolved, we 100 percent own the brand."

The new Commodore 64

Although the Commodore 64 appears on the Commodore site in prototype form, the company said it has designed it to be a "modern functional PC as close to the original in design as humanly possible," even with the original taupe brown/beige color.

Aside from the barebones model, the C64x, as the company calls it, includes a 1.8-GHz D525 CPU, Nvidia Ion2 graphics (with 512 Mbytes of graphics RAM), either 2 or 4 Gbytes of memory, with options for Wi-Fi, DVD, Blu-ray, and either a 160-, 250-, or 500-Gbyte hard drive.

The computer also features a Cherry-made "clicky" keyboard.

And what OS will it run? Not Windows, at least natively. "Units come with the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS operating system on disk ready to install," Commodore said. "Commodore OS 1.0, along with emulation functionality and classic game package, will be mailed to purchasers when available."

The VIC-PRO

The VIC-PRO appears to be a massive update to the VIC-20, a 1980 8-bit personal computer that followed the PET into market. Like the C64x, it's available in several (three) versions, from $495 to $1,195.

It measures 17.5 inches wide and only 2 inches tall, Commodore said.

Commodore has based the VIC-PRO on the Intel Core 2 processor, either the 2.93-GHz E7500 Core 2 Duo or the 3.0-GHz Q9650 Core 2 Quad. Commodore also offers either 2- or 4-Gbyte memory options. Wi-Fi, a tray DVD drive are options, and users have a choice between either a 500-Gbyte or a 1-Tbyte hard drive.

Connectivity options include four USB ports, a parallel port, 2 serial ports, 2 PS2 ports, VGA out and dual DVI connections. Stereo speakers are also included, as well as LED lights to show the status of hard drive, LAN, and keyboard functions.

The VIC-SLIM

Like its name, Commodore's specifications for the "slim" version of the VIC are slim as well.

Inside, the unit contains a 1.8-GHz Intel Atom D525, the Intel GMA3150 graphics chipset, either 1- or 2 Gbytes of memory, dedicated Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, and either a 250- or 500-Gbyte 2.5-inch, removable hard drive. Like the other models, it ships with the Ubuntu 10.04 OS; "Commodore OS 1.0, along with emulation functionality and classic game package, will be mailed to purchasers when available," Commodore said.

Commodore provided physical dimensions for the new Amiga models, but very few specifics on what they contain. For example, the Amiga 1000, the slimmest model of the Amiga family, is a desktop PC based on the micro ATX form factor, with two standard full-height expansion slots, a FireWire port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and some card reader options. But the available CPU, storage, and memory options have been left out, for now.

Mark Hachman Mark joined ExtremeTech in 2001 as the news editor, after rival CMP/United Media decided at the time that online news did not make sense in the new millennium.
Mark stumbled into his career after discovering that writing the great American novel did not pay a monthly salary, and that his other possible career choice, physics, required a degree of mathematical prowess that he sorely lacked.
Mark talked his way into a freelance assignment at CMP’s Electronic Buyers’ News, in 1995, where he wrote the...
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